Local artist has drawn 1,500 portraits of BART passengers while commuting

Bay Area resident Hamilton Cline has drawn approximately 1,500 portraits of fellow BART passengers while commuting to and from San Francisco.

Bay Area resident Hamilton Cline has drawn approximately 1,500 portraits of fellow BART passengers while commuting to and from San Francisco.

Photo: Image: Courtesy Hamilton Cline

Photo: Image: Courtesy Hamilton Cline

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Bay Area resident Hamilton Cline has drawn approximately 1,500 portraits of fellow BART passengers while commuting to and from San Francisco.

Bay Area resident Hamilton Cline has drawn approximately 1,500 portraits of fellow BART passengers while commuting to and from San Francisco.

Photo: Image: Courtesy Hamilton Cline

Local artist has drawn 1,500 portraits of BART passengers while commuting

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Hamilton Cline started drawing passengers on BART for "practice" in 2015. Two years later, he's amassed approximately 1,500 sketches – an archival cross-section of this region's diverse population.

Cline's sketchbook features people of all genders, ages and races. The unifying factor among his subjects is the desire to travel safely from point A to point B.

"BART is something San Franciscans share as a community," said Cline, who got his start drawing caricatures at theme parks. "We don't all like the same music, sports teams, but when it comes to commuting, we all must ride BART."

Using a stylus and his smartphone, Cline draws while traveling to and from his home in Daly City to Montgomery Station. The artist, who teaches programming at the Academy of Art, says he typically completes a sketch in 10 to 20 minutes – depending on whether the subject moves or disembarks.

"I pick people who aren't going to move a lot," he said. "Generally, these are people on their phones."

On Friday, Cline posted a series of sketches on Reddit's San Francisco thread to a resounding response. Many of the 126 commenters thought they recognized themselves or a friend. One commenter deemed Cline "Mr. BARTist." The "Reddit hug" later crashed Cline's website server.

As to why the drawings resonate so widely, Cline chalks it up to the commonality of the oft-mundane BART experience.

"Every once and awhile, everyone looks up and thinks about the people on the train around them," he said. "Now, there's a record that someone else was doing the same thing."